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Comedian and actor Andy Dick – facing a jury trial for allegedly groping a Lyft driver – Tuesday fought in court to prevent prosecutors from using evidence against him from another case where he was convicted of grabbing a woman’s butt.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office is asking Judge Emily Garcia Uhrig to allow testimony from the News Radio star’s victim in the butt-grabbing incident which happened in April 2018, just a week before the Lyft episode.
In the earlier incident, Dick grabbed the buttocks of a woman identified only as Christina S, ‘and made sexual references, calling her “hot,”’ Deputy DA Rachel Brauer told a pre-trial hearing at LA’s Airport courthouse Tuesday.
Dick, 56, was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery for the butt grabbing incident – but that charge was dismissed after he agreed to a deal in which he pleaded no contest to simple battery and a second charge of lewd conduct. He served probation and community service as a result.
In his current legal crisis, the comedian – who showed up in court Tuesday in a black sweater and stained black pants – is again charged with misdemeanor sexual battery stemming from a Lyft driver’s claim that Dick grabbed his genitals during a car ride, also in April 2018.
He faces up to 180 days in jail if the jury convicts him, but Dick has pleaded not guilty, telling DailyMail.com, ‘It did not happen.’
Comedian and actor Andy Dick, 56, is facing 180 days in jail on misdemeanor sexual battery charges stemming from a Lyft driver’s claim that Dick grabbed his genitals during a car ride in April 2018. He is pictured her leaving the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday
Dick’s lawyer, Daniel Kapelovitz, right, opposed the idea saying it would confuse the jury, while his co-counsel Lauren Horner, center, downplayed Dick’s intentions when he grabbed Christina S’s butt in April 2018
Prosecutors in his case petitioned Judge Emily Garcia Uhrig on Tuesday to allow testimony from the Dick’s victim in a butt-grabbing incident which happened just one week before the Lyft episode. He was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery at the time, but the charges were later dismissed.
But this time, unable to get Dick to agree to a plea deal, prosecutors are pursuing the sexual battery charge and intend to bring his butt-grabbing victim Christina S into court to testify against him to show that the Lyft driver episode was not isolated, but part of a pattern of behavior.
His attorney, Daniel Kapelovitz, vehemently opposed the prosecution’s tactics, arguing Tuesday that dragging up the previous case, ‘is going to confuse the issues, confuse the jury.
‘The main issue is that it’s too prejudicial.
‘I believe the other case [the butt grabbing] is much stronger and I believe [prosecutors] are trying to use that to bolster this case [the Lyft incident] which is very weak.’
He added that the Lyft driver alleged victim ‘is trying to seek a lot of money from Mr. Dick.’
Kapelovitz’ co-counsel, Lauren Horner, also argued against the judge allowing evidence from the other case, downplaying Dick’s intentions when he grabbed Christina S’s butt.
‘You can grab someone’s butt without intending to sexually arouse,’ Horner told the court. ‘He was hitting on that woman, he was not intending to humiliate her. No, he was intending to go home with her.
‘It was not sexual battery – which is why he pleaded (no contest) to simple battery (and lewd conduct).’
Judge Uhrig pointed out that under California law, evidence from the butt-grabbing case could be used in the upcoming trial if it demonstrated that ‘Mr Dick showed a propensity to act in a particular way.’
The judge will rule on the issue Wednesday before jury selection begins.
Police from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department swarmed his modest trailer parked at California’s O’Neill Regional Park earlier this month after a man claimed the comedian had sexually assaulted him
Officers are seen here handcuffing Dick before placing him in the patrol car
The moment was broadcast on Captain Content’s RV livestream
The trial start comes three weeks after Dick was arrested at an Orange County trailer park on suspicion of felony sexual battery after a man claimed the comedian had sexually assaulted him.
The 56-year-old actor was accused of a felony of sexual assault at a trailer park in Irvine California on May 11 when police in Orange County, California arrested him.
A live-streamed video caught the moment he was arrested from his California trail park earlier this month, but the Orange County District Attorney’s office found there was not ‘sufficient evidence,’ to charge the actor and sent the case back to the sheriff for ‘further investigation.’
Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Steinle told DailyMail.com afterwards that ‘after re-interviewing the alleged victim, OC Sheriff’s Department decided to drop the case .’
‘The victim did not want to participate in our investigation,’ Steinle said. ‘Since the victim does not want to co-operate any more, the investigation will go no further.’
Steinle said if the victim decides in the future that he does want to participate then the case could be re-opened.
Over the decades, Dick has been open about his alcohol and drug abuse, and has had a string of arrests that have made news headlines
A mugshot of comedian Andy Dick taken in 2011
Over the decades, Dick has been transparent about his alcohol and drug abuse, and has had a string of arrests that have made news headlines.
In November 2021, Dick was arrested for felony domestic battery after he allegedly hit his boyfriend in the head with a liquor bottle.
According to police, Dick and his boyfriend had been at his home when they got into a heated argument that quickly turned physical. When police were called, they determined there was enough evidence to arrest the comedian, as his boyfriend was allegedly bleeding from a sizable wound on his head.
Dick was released after he posted $50,000 bond.
In October 2021, Dick was arrested for allegedly hitting his boyfriend in the face with a frying pan.
In June 2021, the actor was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly attacking a male partner with a metal chair.
Dick also made his $50,000 bail after that altercation.
In 2019, the actor was sentenced to 14 days in jail after being convicted of sexual battery for allegedly squeezing a woman’s rear end. He was released after a single night due to jail overcrowding.
The same year, he was seen on video being slammed to the ground after he got into a fight with an Uber Eats driver while seemingly intoxicated.
Dick’s estranged wife Lena Sved also received a domestic violence restraining order against him in 2018, which required him to move out of their home and remain 100 yards away from her and their adult children: Lucas, 33, Jacob, 27, and Meg, 24.
In 2012, he was arrested for allegedly grabbing a 17-year-old girl’s top and pulling it down to expose her breasts.
He was later found with marijuana and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug and battery charges, for which he was sentenced to three years of probation.
In 2010, he was arrested for allegedly grabbing a man’s genitals while intoxicated at a West Virginia bar.
In 2007, Dick groped Ivanka Trump during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live and was pulled off stage by Kimmel’s security staff.
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